Michigan

This past week we went to Michigan to find a home to rent. For the first few days it was snowing and as we walked from car to wherever, I thought I could handle the weather. It wasn't THAT cold. But then Sunday happened. And oh my goodness it was the same temp as the previous days (20 degrees) except their was wind chill. Wind chill made the temp's real feel 8 degrees. 8 degrees is COLD! So on days like that, I might freeze to death....

Pretty much we spent the trip house hunting and eating...we do love eating. I have to say I approve of Michigan food. Their breakfast food and ice cream was AmAzInG, and their Mexican food will do. Besides they have pretty much every restaurant we have which is very comforting :)

Ok we did do other things besides seeing homes and eating. We did go see "Catching Fire" (super good), we got to see downtown Detroit (which had beautiful architecture but was depressingly vacant) and we got to see the temple in West Bloomfield (so much smaller than I am accustomed to) but still beautiful;

And although our real estate agent was not the best, we did end up finding an amazing home to lease! I love it! It is small but has plenty of storage space so it's perfect. It has an unfinished basement for Tyler to keep his tools and for us to store things. It also has a detached garage that has a second floor which could be used for more storage OR for a "fort" for the kids. I can't wait to get there and take pictures of the inside when it's officially ours. 

Snow Day

So this week things are finally *sort of* coming along with moving. The relocation adviser finally got in touch with us. We found out that the movers will pack our stuff and GM will ship our cars there. These are steps in the right direction. I also found out that I needed to book my own trip to Michigan for house hunting purposes, so that is done. 

This week we will go and look at all 2 houses that I was able to find online (there were more, but either too expensive, too far away or too small). Super. It seems we are either going to have to settle for a very small space (1400 square feet) or settle for an expensive rent ($1400/mnth). Tis the lot of having a large family. Maybe I'll get lucky and the real estate agent they set us up with will prove helpful or maybe one of the property management companies will call me back and have some awesome homes for us. Fingers crossed!

And though my major planner aheader self continues to feel stressed about all the unknowns that I can do nothing about, I was able to have some fun with the kids. We went with Oliver & Mikey Dude to a bank's way awesome Snow Day! They didn't advertise the event as well this year which was AWESOME for us, no waiting and no crowds equals lots of fun. The kid's pigged out on doughnuts, sat in a firetruck, and got balloon swords. Steven once again loved the Bounce House and Bounce Obstacle Course. And then of course there was the snow:

And we got to see a way better looking and nicer Santa than Bass Pro Shop for absolutely NO wait!!!

Oh and let me end with a "tender mercy" moment. I was having one of those mornings where I was feeling overwhelmed with everything. One of the things on my to do list for the day was to check second hand stores for winter clothing for Lucy, she was still really lacking but I was dreading spending more money that I didn't have. And wouldn't you know that as I was thinking of when I was going to be able to shop for these clothes I got a text from my visiting teacher asking if I needed any winter clothes for Lucy, she had a whole bin of some that her daughter had outgrown. Tender mercy! Now I have a ton of clothing for Lucy and it was all the stuff I needed. Just another reminder that my Heavenly Father loves and looks out for me. We are truly so blessed!